To document Make History, Thunderbirds Are Now! convened in New York and Philadelphia with longtime friend John Schmersal, famous for his signature guitar skronk as a member of Brainiac and for his skewed-pop sensibilities with his current band Enon. Schmersal's ear for melody as well as unconventional sounds and structures helped TAN! find a perfect marriage between the straight-ahead and the peculiar. It's a coupling that can be heard all over Make History. Take the opener, "Panthers in Crime," which starts off with an acoustic introduction and crashes to an end with keyboardist Scott Allen manning a Hammond organ and drummer Matt Rickle bashing his kit. Or examine "The Veil Comes Down," a four-on-the-floor rocker that features bassist Howard Chang's steady rhythms and some of the most eccentric keyboard noises the band has ever cooked up. The twelve-song album (including the Australia exclusive “Dangerish”) culminates with live staple "(The Making of...) Make History" and its chorus of pop-centric "ba ba da ba's" singing the album to its triumphant close. It's all done with the utmost intent of separating themselves from the dance-rock and the post-post-punk pigeonholing that has plagued some of their contemporaries, making their own history along the way.